Pizza Margherita

Classic Margherita Pizza - Servings: 4 pizzas

An often recounted story holds that on June 11, 1889, to honour the queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, the Neapolitan pizza maker Raffaele Esposito created the "Pizza Margherita", a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, to represent the national colors of Italy as on the Flag of Italy.

This classic Margherita Pizza recipe is so easy and so delicious! This is our favorite. It’s simple. It’s flavorful…my most favorite pizza ever! Make this margherita pizza recipe for your next homemade pizza night with the fam! I just know you’re going to love it!

Margherita pizza is a pizza generally made with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil, salt and extra-virgin olive oil. San Marzano tomatoes are a variety of plum tomatoes. Plum tomatoes are a type of tomato used for making sauce.

How to prepare pizza Margherita

1. Make the base: Put the flour into a large bowl, then stir in the yeast and salt. Make a well, pour in 350 ml warm water and the olive oil and bring together with a wooden spoon until you have a soft, fairly wet dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 mins until smooth. Cover with a tea towel and set aside. You can leave the dough to rise if you like, but it’s not essential for a thin crust.

See also step-by-step guide for making pizza dough

2. Make the sauce: Peeled, canned and fresh tomatoes can be used, traditionally sauces is from San Marzano tomatoes. Peeled tomatoes, should be strained, salted not too much, to taste, and mashed into a homogenous mixture

See also step-by-step guide for making marinara sauce

3. Roll out the dough: if you’ve let the dough rise, give it a quick knead, then split into four balls. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into large rounds, about 25cm across, using a rolling pin. The dough needs to be very thin as it will rise in the oven. Lift the rounds onto two floured baking sheets.

4. Top and bake: heat the oven to 460°C to 485°C fan/gas 8. Put another baking sheet or an upturned baking tray in the oven on the top shelf. Smooth sauce over bases with the back of a spoon. Scatter with cheese and tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil and season. Put one pizza, still on its baking sheet, on top of the preheated sheet or tray.

Bake for 20 minutes until crisp. Bake until cheese is bubbly and the underside of the crust is golden brown. Once the pizzas are cooked, remove them from the oven and let them cool for a minute. Tear or chop fresh basil leaves and sprinkle them over the pizzas.

Repeat step for remaining pizza dough.

Feel free to customize your pizza by adding other toppings like sliced tomatoes or fresh garlic if you prefer.

Slice the pizzas and serve immediately. Enjoy your homemade Pizza Margherita!